Turkey Day!

I'm sure that many of you can relate to the stress associated wtih preparing a kickin' Thanksgiving feast. This year, I knew that we would have a small group over to our house, but that didn't decrease the pressure at all. I suppose that when I have been exposed to a certain "standard" for Thanksgiving day meals all of my life; seconded by the fact that when I only make the food for Thanksgiving once a year and in between Thanksgivings my mind tends to imagine the "legendary" taste of each dish; and thirdly, my kitchen skills have become rusty from lack of use - I was understandably anxious. That did not stop Scott and I from trying a few additions to our meal - Scott and I love to try knew recipes that we find on the Food Network website, and we love trying them out on our visitors. We found an amazing caramel apple pie recipe that we tried, and it was a huge success - Scott's mom said about the pie: "these apples are perfect, cooked to the right consistency of soft, but firm". If you are feeling up to the challenge, check out the link for the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-challenge/caramel-apple-pie-2003-1st-place-apple-recipe/index.html

In the morning, I knew we needed to get the stuffing started early, but it was difficult getting out of bed. I kept remembering the years of living at home with my parents, when my sister and I were recruited to help my mom in the kitchen while my brothers played games or slept in - the very "50's house-wife" mentality of it used to drive me nuts. But while Scott and I peeled onions and cooked sausage for the stuffing, I pointed to a picture of my mom and told Scott - "it's thanks to my mom that I can even wield a knife and attack these recipes." I really am grateful to my mom that she "insisted" on my Thanksgiving-day-help. This was also the first year that I have ever been fully in charge of cooking the turkey, and I knew the pressure was on. However....Scott and I hit it out of the park with the turkey. My father-in-law stated: "this is the best turkey I have ever eaten - it's practically melting in my mouth." Knowing that turkey has the potential to be disastrously dry, Scott and I did our turkey-research. I credit the turkey-success to several factors: 1) we got our turkey from Trader Joe's (we love that store) and it was an 'already brined turkey'; 2) we decided to brine the turkey again, overnight, and found a great brine at Safeway, of all places; 3) we followed the simple cooking instructions from Alton Brown on the food network website: Check out his video from the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/10-thanksgiving-turkey-tips/video/index.html (look for the video called "Cooking the Perfect Turkey"). Scott and I jokingly referred to our foil shield, recommended by Alton Brown, as the "Breast Plate of Righteousness" - it really did guarantee the successful even-cooking of the bird.

In all, we had a lovely dinner, ate way too much, reminisced about past Thanksgivings, and enjoyed the company of family. Scott and I frequently stopped to acknowledge how grateful we are for each other, and for our numerous blessings. I hope that all of you family and friends had an equally enjoyable day of thanks!A very satisfied bunch: Sara, Mom Hinckley, Scott (in the mirror), Dad Hinckley, Grandma Ruby

After the eating was done, Scott and I "bested" his parents in a hilarious game of 'Turbo' Cranium. Top Left/Right: Mom and Dad Hinckley put their heads together on how to answer a question. Middle: Scott uses his 'mad' drawing skills to help me come up with the answer - and he did it with his eyes closed. Bottom Left/Right: Dad Hinckley had to 'sculpt' Mom Hinckley - the bottom left picture was "Frankenstein" - they not only got the answers before the timer went off, they were good sports about it too!

To cap-off our Thanksgiving weekend, Scott and I got together with our good friends, Brandon and Katie Whitley. I met Katie my first year teaching when we were assigned to be team teachers, and when we introduced our then-boyfriends for the first time, they realized that they knew each other. We have enjoyed their friendship for many years now, through moves, changes in jobs/school, and weddings - just one more thing that Scott and I are grateful for this Thanksgiving season.